The 'Lone' Hero of Vale (RWBY & Link)

by SRenthusiast

Team RWBY runs into a classmate while on a self-assigned mission, when they realize he does not have any teammates because he is a one person team. Link quickly proves he's not just a swordsman and is very much worthy of calling himself a huntsman despite a dark past that correlates with major events. (More of a fusionfic since its Link in Remnant.) (Story is undergoing re-writes)

50. Battle of Haven, Part 2: A Price to Pay

Haven Academy: The Grand Hall

A massive battle ensues inside Haven Academy! With everyone getting into individual fights: Jaune Arc against Cinder Fall, Ruby Rose against Emerald Sustrai, Yang Xiao Long versus Mercury Black, a rematch from the Vytal Festival tournament. The Branwen siblings engage in battle, and Weiss seeks revenge against Vernal. Additionally, Nora Valkyrie, Lie Ren, and Link as a trio, team up to take on Hazel Rainart. Even Oscar Pine brings the fight to Leonardo Lionheart, despite only having little training. The villains eventually gain the upper hand, with Ruby knocked unconscious and Weiss being gravely wounded, first by the spring maiden flickering and then shattering her aura. Following this, the fall maiden impales her midsection with a spear. However, with most of the heroes tending to the fallen girls, while Qrow puts his body on the line to shield Oscar, who's connection to Professor Ozpin was exposed by Professor Lionheart, nobody expected what occurred next. Link, distraught by witnessing yet another senseless murder with his own eyes and being unable to stop it, rises to his feet, and confronts the evil group of seven consisting of maidens, huntsmen, and a disgraced headmaster all by himself. Regardless of the impossible odds, he unleashes his self declared forbidden power, or what is simply known as 'the 'demon' to others. It consumes the blonde young man, who now appears determined to get revenge with furious golden eyes, a bright white, glowing pale complexion, and disturbing twisted lining spread across his face, trailing down his chest and back. However, nobody is aware that Link is mentally present, having just internally declared love

"Well?!" Raven frowns underneath her mask. "Are you going to make a move?"

The woman's call out fails to incite anyway. Instead, Link remains still in the same stance. His eyes move from left to right, eyeing the enemies in front of him. The young man grip tightens around his shield straps and the hilt of his sword, never uttering a single word

"If he won't make a move, then we should!" Raven turns her head to the rest of the group. "All of us against him? This should not take long."

"B-But-!" Vernal's eyes narrow. "I thought you-!"

"Shhh." Raven quiets down her protege a gentle elbow tap

"Cinder?" Emerald mumbles

"The plan remains the same, this boy is a mere nuisance." Cinder smirks. "We're going to kill him and go down into the vault."

"Right!" Mercury grins

"Yes ma'am." Emerald nods

"Then what are we waiting for?" Hazel grunts and glares at his left forearm, where his hand used to be attached. "Grrr!"

"Y-Y-You're all crazy!" Leonardo shakes his head and takes multiple steps backward, "Cinder said this plan alteration would go smoothly. They knew who we were up against, how to defeat Qrow and the children!" His body trembles in fear. "T-They didn't really plan a single thing! I have to find a way out of here as soon as I get the chance to open the vault."

Meanwhile, Link's eyes cease from looking at everyone any further, instead he focuses on two people now. Those people in question are the spring and fall maidens, Vernal and Cinder. Intentionally chosen for a reason, as these are the same women who incapacitated and then severely injured Weiss

"ENOUGH STANDING AROUND!" Hazel loudly shouts. "When he's out of the way, Ozpin is mine!" He promptly takes off, with tremendous speed for a large man

The one handed giant sprints forward, winds up his closed right hand, then pushes off his feet and pops forward with a burst of additional speed. However, before the powerful fist slams into Link's head, the former Beacon student has a plan. First, by allowing the large man to get near, only to use his superior speed and footwork to slip past with quick sideways jumps, then sprints forward and charges at the remaining six

"Here he comes!" Leonardo cowers away as much as he can, only stopping when he collides back first with the statue of the woman in chains

Vernal aims her bladed guns, Emerald raises her chained sickles, 'Thief's Respite' in their revolvers state, points the barrels at Link and the two young women fire away! Next up is Mercury, who firmly stands on one leg, while the other leg blasts rapid standing side kicks, firing multiple shots in the process from his boots, prosthetic lower legs, and his respective weapons 'Talaria'. In response to the gunfire from three different weapons, Link raises his shield and powers through every single bullet! While some are blocked by the defensive weapon, other shots make direct contact with his shoulders and legs, but the blonde is not look fazed in the slightest

"It's not working!" Cinder frowns

"Emerald! Do something!" Mercury thrusts his leg harder, aiming perfect shots that inflict zero damage

"NO! It's too soon!" Emerald shakes her head and continues firing shots. "If I use it too much, you know what happens, idiot!"

"How do we beat this kid?" Raven nervously grips her sword 'Omen'. "It was difficult to hurt him even before, but now he really is a monster! And he's clearly stronger than before."

"Whenever you'd like to use your powers, that would be great!" Mercury angrily shouts at the spring maiden

"M-Me?! Tell that to your maiden!" Vernal narrows her eyes

"Excuse me?!" Cinder's eye glows with a fiery streak

"Quiet Vernal!" Raven commands. "My maiden was not recruited for a grand battle, we are here to kill my brother and retrieve the relic. Her powers will be saved for life and death situations only!"

"I think this is life and death right here!" Emerald yells

"Shut up! All of you!" The fall maiden glares at Raven, "If that is how you want to be, then protect your maiden with only your life, and my proteges will protect mine with theirs!" She turns to her loyal students. "Mercury! Behind me! Emerald! In front of me!"

"RIGHT!" Emerald nods

Both she and Mercury adjust their positions, with the former only having to shift over a couple of feet, while the latter has to completely stop what he is doing to change where he stands. The two of them now stand in a defensive formation to protect their mentor, leader, and most importantly, keep the fall maiden safe from any harm

"..." Link lets out a grunt as he turns his attention to Vernal, who also has a guardian in front of her

Raven arches her feet and prepares to lunge forward when the enemy gets too close. Then Link shocks everyone when he is three feet away, as he suddenly changes course by planting his feet on the ground and dashing to the right, with Cinder being the true target. The fall maiden, Emerald, and Mercury jump at the change in plans

"STAY BACK!" Emerald turns her hips for full power, detaches the blades, extending her range with the chains in her weapons and launches them at the blonde

Blast!

The chains shoot forward perfectly and meticulously seem to have Link in a vulnerable position while he blindly sprints into the attack. However, he keeps surprising his foes and repeats the same action, changing directions with good footwork, agility, and the speed he has been developing with help from Ruby. Link lunges to the left, avoids the chains, pushes off the ground, and easily launches himself past Emerald, with Cinder only inches away now

"NO!" Emerald's eyes widen

"Stop him Em!" Mercury jolts, clearly surprised by the displayed speed

"Grrrr!" Cinder steps forward. "Alright then I'll just do it myself!"

The one eyed woman rips her sword and swings mightily with a horizontal slash, coming close to striking the enemy's midsection with a direct strike… But instead of blocking, using his speed to dodge, or utilizing crafty footwork to slip by, Link jumps over the fall maiden, flips through, and promptly lands directly behind her, with a perfect opportunity to strike. He turns his body faster than Cinder can turn her head, and with furrowed brows, the huntsman grips his sword and readies himself for a big strike

"Not so fast punk!" Mercury lunges forward, twists his body, raises one leg, and rapidly aims a spinning heel kick to the head of his opponent

Boom!

Mercury's kick lands cleanly and although his rushed attack is not perfect, it makes contact and blasts the neck of the shorter blonde huntsman, and it is accompanied with a shotgun blast from his boot! Despite that, his slight miss is the least of the evildoer's concern, because his powerful kick that normally causes major damage or sends people flying… Does neither. Link budges, his body swaying forward, but his legs do not move in the slightest

"What?!" Mercury frowns, but not for long as a grin forms on his smug face, "Nice trick loser!" He lowers his leg, switches stances, and throws a massive right hand

Link takes an attack to the back of the head! And yet again, gives no reaction, as if a punch was never thrown. Mercury's fists shake in anger; the normally cocky, but now frustrated villain directs four strikes to the back. First is a spinning back kick, which means another shotgun shell fires at close range… No impact. Next are two punches, a straight right hand to upper back, followed by a left hook to the spleen, capped off with another spinning side kick to the lower back! It contains the same power as all of his previous kicks, with a shotgun blast following said kick, but every strike that connects accumulates to no damage, as if Mercury were striking a brick wall that does not crack, dent or even shake

(Is that all?!)

With a rapid spin, Link turns his attention to Mercury and immediately strikes with a slash across the body, the enemy's aura protects him, but the attack still garners a reaction. Cinder's narrows as she attacks, knowing she can strike now that the opponent's back is turned. However, Link whips his head towards her and raises his shield, digs his heels, and easily withstands a powerful swing! Mercury then re-enters the fight, with himself and Cinder now collectively attacking Link at the same time. The gray haired villain throws multiple high side kicks, while the fall maiden plunges her sword forward in straightforward and rapid swinging motions. Regrettably for them, Link is more than ready, raising and lowering his shield when needed to block every single sword attack from the powerful maiden, and using both his forearm and hilt of the sword to block and deflect all of Mercury's kicks!

"Die!" Cinder growls, adding more power to her attacks with every swing…

The battle continues! With Cinder and her protege relentlessly throwing every bit of offense they can. To their disappointment though, every kick, shotgun blast, swing, slash and jab are skillfully and effortlessly blocked.

"You gotta have a weakness!" Mercury shouts

But again, no response from Link, who coldly reacts to every move their throw with a blank, but angry expression. Soon, both Mercury and Cinder close the distance, showcasing their desperation to land something

"Now's my chance!" Leonardo raises his left arm and aims his activated shield 'Stalwart', he cycles between his options, unsure of what to launch at the occupied huntsman

(Grrr! I don't think so!)

Link's eyes glare at Hazel, who is running back to rejoin the fight. Then there's Emerald with her revolvers aimed at him, Professor Lionheart and his shield, plus the foes currently attacking him. Without missing a step or feeling overwhelmed from being majorly outnumbered, the huntsman continues to defend with everything he has! Mercury throws a low roundhouse kick to the knee, but is promptly neutralized with a low and stiff forearm block. Cinder spins for momentum before swinging high and aiming to severely damage or cut off the young man's head, but this attempt is also vanquished with the raising of his shield. Link then picks up his right leg and slams his boot into the fall maiden's stomach with a side kick! She stumbles back and loudly coughs, but quickly returns to the fight within seconds. Cinder aims high yet again, with time with a jab instead of a slash, while Mercury also throws a front kick to the head of the blonde. To counter, Link raises both arms, elbows at ear level, and in slick fashion uses his forearm and shield to block both attacks once more

(My turn!)

In the near distance, Professor Lionheart finally makes up his mind and launches three fireballs at Link! The timing however, is impeccable, as the latter bends his legs while Cinder and Mercury are moments away from throwing more coordinated attacks. The efforts by the three prove to be futile when Link grips both of his signature weapons tightly, and spins five times in fluid motion to slash the two opponents in range, while easily cutting through the fireballs from Leonardo

"I-Impossible!" Leonardo gasps and stands put, expecting to be the next target, where he would be easy prey

And to make matters worse… This series of spinning slashes proves to be lethal for a certain individual

"Ahhhh!" Cinder retreats with a backward leap, ending up next to Emerald in seconds, and grasps her left arm… Or what is left of it, as a black hand with claws hits the ground, as does the part of her outfit being used to hide something

"Are you okay!?" Emerald reaches out

"Don't touch me!" Cinder shakes her head. "It will regrow, but-!" Her eye widens, body shaking with pain, and she drops to her knees

"Cinder!"

"D-Don't worry about me!" The fall maiden shakes her head. "Just… Make sure… Leo… Opens… The vault!"

"Yes! Of course!" Emerald turns to her left and glares at the disgraced professor. "Open the vault!"

"O-Okay!" Leonardo nods

"GRRRAH!"

Hazel returns after being played for a fool earlier. A massive right hand with significant wind up follows as it is powerfully launched in the form of a right hook! Link grunts, turns around to face Hazel, lifts his shield, but does not dig his heels into the floor as much as he can, aware of the tall man's strength

BOOM!

The punch hits nothing but metal, but instead of launching the blonde huntsman into the air, where he would inevitably slam into a wall, Link has other ideas. Having already experienced Hazel's power, the wise, silent huntsman decides to stay light on his feet and embrace being sent in the air, then shocks the giant by only moving a couple of feet and gently landing, as if he was floating

"What the-?!" Hazel frowns

"Just keep attacking! He has to go down eventually." Mercury shouts, charges at his opponent, leaps into the air, and with bicycle kicks directed at the ground, fires multiple shotgun rounds at what appears to be a prone huntsman standing still

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

"O-Oh no! We have to help him!" Ruby yelps in pain whilst holding her head

"Agreed, b-but… What if Link isn't in control? He's not talking at all." Yang shakes her head

"That's a risk we should take!" Nora protests. "We can't let him fight alone!"

"No. Yang is right." Qrow mumbles as he and Oscar regroup with the three girls. "Besides, the kid is incredibly holding them off. It helps when they're all being selfish and either attacking on their own or in my sister's case, are saving themselves."

"W-What is he…?" Oscar nervously points at their ally

"I… Don't know, kid." The older huntsman blinks while he watches smoke engulf the area around the stairs from the gunfire

"H-He's our friend, Oscar." Ruby weakly smiles. "As for what that is… Your guess is as good as ours. We only know what Link has told us and-!"

"I understand. He has not told you much." Oscar sighs. "Are we safe from it?"

"Stop talking like that!" Nora scowls. "Link is not an it, he would not hurt us."

"Wow…" Ruby's smile widens at this change in attitude from the orange haired girl. "Thanks Nora."

Returning to the fight, Link sprints through the smoke and gets in Mercury's face, attacking with consecutive diagonal and vertical slashes, all of which are swiftly dodged by the latter. Next is a powerful jab directed at the head! But Mercury slips past the attack, only his hair gets clipped, but this allows him to slide behind Link. The gray haired boy snarls, plants both feet, twists his hips, and with all of his power, lands another spinning side kick to the spine. And this time, Mercury makes Link stumble forward at last! Albeit… By one step

(It is time to start taking all of you evil people out! You're first!)

Link whips around and boots Mercury in the stomach with a basic side kick, which sends the frustrated villain sliding back. This kick is tactical from Link and crucial to separating his target from the rest of Salem's crew. Now it is time for Link to attack, he starts fast with non-stop diagonal slashes to the arms, chest, and midsection, with some low slashes to the legs slipping through, connecting with his upper body of Mercury, who can only block the first attack before he is completely overwhelmed and absorbs nine sword slashes in total. While Mercury reels in pain, Link dashes forward and gets behind his opponent in mere seconds! Then, the swordsman proceeds to grab him by the back of his collar with his shield hand, and throw him up in the air a few feet. However, the injured enemy does not rise or stay in the air for long. He promptly falls and Link is directly underneath him, ready to strike: left leg extended backward, right leg bent forward, twisted torso, right arm and shield behind his back, and lastly his sword, held over the right knee. Mercury attempts to flip over, where he would then propel himself away with shots from his boots, but with no time or proper space, he flails helplessly

(This one's for Yang!)

The same angry expression remains on the huntsman's face as he grips his sword tightly, waits, and when Mercury is close enough, Link swings his arm over his head and brings his sword across, slashing the enemy's back with force, but that is not all. Link turns his left hand, tightens his grip even further, then twists his body to the right and thrusts his sword in the air once more!

"Ahhh!" Mercury yells, with the consecutive slashes keeping him in the air

Link allows Mercury to drop, relenting on his upward slashes. Instead, he spins and another side kick to the ribs, boots him further away from Salem's crew, and in the direction of his friends and their leader, Qrow. The outmatched miscreant flails through the air, near ground level, but Mercury's punishment is not over yet, as Link follows him and ready to attack again

(You thought that was it?)

Link dashes past Mercury, gets behind, and stops him from traveling any further by attacking him with a barrage of attacks from his sword: A horizontal slash to the upper legs! Next is a wild vertical slash that partially connects to the back. An immediate diagonal slash follows, starting at the gray haired boy's shoulder, and ends with the tip of the blade slashing down his hip. Following this is a jab to the opposite shoulder, multiple spinning slashes, heavy two handed swings, and more… Totalling ten additional strikes in total. All of them land, with the power, speed, and momentum of the last attack, a horizontal slash across the shoulders, turns Mercury over, with his front now facing Link

(I'm not done with you yet!)

The same process repeats itself, with Mercury not being able to retaliate or even defend himself, and Link throwing another combination of rapid and powerful strikes. From one handed, two handed, powerful, quick, or spinning slashes that are all in different directions and angles, vertical, horizontal, and diagonal swings, they all land on the enemy's chest, stomach, arms, and legs. Before long, the combination of sword slashes comes to a swift end, with a side kick landing perfectly on the midsection for good measure. Lastly… The final strike. A direct, powerful jab to the stomach! Mercury lifts his hands to block, but it does little to help block the strike, only using more of his depleting aura. The jab now totals twenty-two strikes that land, each one causing damage, whether minimal like the side kicks or significant like plunging, straightforward jabs. Mercury is sent flying backward once again, this time back toward his group. His eyes widen and he coughs blood, and his aura shatters with the last attack that successfully lands. Mercury's stomach and entire midsection glows with his flickering gray aura, making it clear that his natural defense in that area of his body is no more

"Whoa… Look at him go. And he's so cold too." Yang blinks in shock. "That's definitely not Link."

"Don't say that!" Ruby growls.

The next thing everyone witnesses is Mercury, slamming back first into the floor with a sickening thud! Landing conveniently next to Emerald and Cinder, the former looks on in shock, but the maiden is angry. They cannot believe that the skilled hand to hand huntsman has been defeated by Link, their long time nemesis, who was not seen as a threat

"MERC!" Emerald drops to her knees and panics

"E-Emerald!" Cinder frowns, with her regenerating arm causing her problems and physically stunting her movement. "T-The vault!"

"But… Mercury…" She shakes her head

"He's alive, t-that's what-! Ugh!" Cinder shuts her eye and grunts in pain. "Must get to the v-vault!"

"Okay!" Emerald rises to her feet and aims both of her weapons at the headmaster. "The vault… NOW!"

"Y-Yes! On it!" Leonardo nods and desperately looks for his pocket watch

"Forget this!" Hazel shrugs at his crew that is struggling with one person, after having easily gotten the upper hand against the entire group of nine moments ago. "That psychotic kid is your problem."

"Hazel! What do you think you are doing?!" Cinder frowns

"We can kill him together!" Emerald gasps

"Cinder, you changed the plan and made it harder for us than it should have been. And if you came here for revenge…" The giant pays no attention to the fall maiden, and shifts his focus back on Oscar, who is still being guarded by Qrow. "...Then I may as well get what I am after!"

(Qrow can handle him, I must stop them from entering the vault.) Link glances to his left, where Raven and Vernal are in defensive stances. Next, he turns to his right, Cinder rises to one knee as a black hand is now visibly emerging where red fabric used to be, while Emerald hurries Professor Lionheart to open the vault. (If you want to enter the vault and need the spring maiden, then-!)

With no time to waste, Link turns to Raven and Vernal, and makes his next move to charge the women. Having learned from their initial error, the spring maiden does fire her bladed guns, hoping to slow down the enemy at long range. Instead, the leader of the Branwen tribe launches her sword out of its scabbard, and it shoots like a bullet while she pushes off her feet and leaps forward!

CLANG!

The huntsman and tribe leader collide their swords, but unlike before, Link has a significant strength advantage. Raven grits her teeth in frustration when feeling her knees bend and herself being pushed back without any real fight. This continues until Link closes the distance, is inches away from Raven, then twists and spins suddenly, allowing himself to be struck across the back, but in exchange he lands a diagonal spinning slash against the woman's upper body

"Gah!" Raven stumbles back and falls to one knee

She reacts quickly and stands up in a millisecond, but all it takes is that one moment for Link to dash past Raven and set his sights on the partially blinded young woman behind Raven. With a dangerous opponent coming her way, Vernal appears stunned, only shakily aiming her weapons, waiting for the huntsman to get close. And when he does, she pulls the trigger on both guns and lands perfect shots!

ZAP!

Link stands still and drops his head, looking as if he finally took damage. Vernal smirks and takes the chance to strike again, by extending her arms outward, with both bladed guns tightly grasped, then rapidly brings her arms together, inwards, aiming the blades at his head

(Hmph!)

The blonde ducks, slips to his left, dodges, and swiftly plunges his sword into Vernal's midsection on her right side! The blade instantly shatters her aura and pierces the spring maiden's skin

"AHHH!" Vernal cries out and just manages to pull herself out of the predicament with a sideways jump, before the blade enters her body even further. Although, she emerges injured, falls to both knees, holds her ribs, and struggles to breath. "My ribs! Are they b-broken?!"

"Get away from her!"

Raven's shout is powerful and rings throughout the entire grand hall! The woman is right behind Link, without him noticing, and lands offense of her own. In the form of multiple slashes to the back, arms, legs, even one to the head, all of which draw no significant reaction out of Link, who stumbles forward and recoils with each strike. When none of her strikes do the trick, Raven changes her approach. She dashes forward, to the right, left, backward, leaving afterimages behind and showcases incredible speed, in an attempt to confuse her opponent, who has now stopped chasing Vernal and focused his attention on the tribe leader. Raven then implements attacks into her movement, leaping forward and striking Link in the chest! Immediately after she lands the attack, the woman speeds away behind him, takes off once more, and strikes his back! Link, attempting his best at shutting this down, raises his shield, attempting to keep up with the woman, but cannot figure out her movement pattern. And this continues, with her impeccable speed being one step ahead of Link

Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash!

"Now you die!" Raven dashes in a circle, then digs her heels, and takes off with maximum speed. Now face to face, she grips her blade with both hands and aims for the heart

But she makes a big mistake near the end by striking in the same pattern after gaining confidence, rather than mixing up her attacks; as Link's tendency to pick up on repetitive attacks comes into play

CLANG!

Her long, red sword clashes against the sturdy shield in Link's right hand, who finally figures out that she ends every sequence with a direct strike to the chest, whether it be a slash or a jab is up to Raven, who chooses to jab this time

"How are you doing any of this? What are you?!" Raven frowns and pushes her sword further against the shield, but to her dismay, has no success in pushing back the defensive weapon. "H-He's completely unaffected, but all of my strikes landed and he reacted to them!"

Link does not respond to the comments, but takes action when he thrusts his left arm forward, throwing a sloppy jab, angled and trailing towards the right, blade aiming for Raven's head! She slips to her left, only for Link's true intentions to be revealed when the back of his left hand lights up, and a beam of light shoots from it!

"WHAT?!" Raven gasps in shock as two triforces appear in front and behind her, one is faded and slightly glistening, while the other is bright and throwing out light capable of causing blindness

However, rather than his usual combination of sword slashes, aided by footwork to attack his opponent's front, behind them, and their sides, the blonde huntsman has something else in mind. This series of attacks is none other than his rapid sword jabs. The first jab pierces through the magical force and wounds Raven's chest! A second jab strikes her midsection in the liver region! Followed by a third jab to the shoulder! Four! Five! Six! Seven! Eight! Nine! Ten! And it does not stop there as jabs number eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, and sixteen all come flying at Yang's mother with tremendous speed! Raven's attempts to block with her sword are futile as each attack lands perfectly, with the final jab striking her stomach! Which sequentially sends her crashing through the triforce behind her and flying backwards. She soars through the air, crashing into Leonardo, who has just placed his pocket watch inside an empty amulet on the statue, with it perfectly slotting inside. As both he and Raven crash against the ground, the pocket watch gradually spins faster and the statue lowers in seconds

"..." Link glares at everything going on around him: Hazel furiously punches Qrow's back with a lightning enhanced punch, which stuns and down's the Branwen siblings temporarily, giving the tall man the chance to chase Oscar. Vernal is too stunned after having witnessed her leader get easily dispatched, she opts to sneak away, returning to her leader step by step as Link pays no attention to her. Raven fights hard to get up to her knees, while sneakily sliding back and onto the platform; her entire torso flickers, making it apparent that her aura is done for in that area. Mercury is moving but only writhing on the ground, Cinder grunts and slumps over in pain as the regrowth of her arm takes a massive toll on her body, and Emerald nervously tends to her mentor

"Emerald!" Cinder barks

"Y-Yes?" The girl nods. "What is it?"

"Now that Mercury is conscious… I need you two now… More than ever!" Cinder snarls as her black hand with claws emerges at last. "You too, Mercury. Listen up."

"Of course!" Emerald leans closer, with her ear inches away from the fall maiden's lips

"Y-Yeah?" Mercury rolls over and crawls towards the maiden and his close friend

"Distract him… I don't know why he is so strong, but we need the relic to kill them all." Cinder mumbles. "I am going to get it… W-With Raven and spring, then come back… Stronger than ever."

"But-!" The tanned girl shakes her head. "Nothing seems to cause that kid any damage, what are Merc and I supposed to do against him when it is just us?"

"I already told you. Distract him, do not fight him, just keep him occupied." Cinder scowls at her protege. "You know how to get in his head, use it! Hold him and the rest of these idiots off until I come back!"

"Fine." Mercury groans but does not protest otherwise as he, on shaky arms and legs, slowly gets up

"Stop." Emerald sighs. "Your aura is done, is it not?"

"Not completely. But that doesn't matter, our goal is to retrieve the relic. While Cinder is doing that, we do what we can up here!" He smirks, despite how hurt he is

Cinder nods and follows in the steps of Vernal, slowly sneaking away and getting on the platform

"Are you sure about this?" Emerald narrows her eyes. "We're about to be outnumbered and if Qrow, along with the rest of the students decide to rejoin the fight against us, we might be-!"

"Let's just do as we were told." Mercury grunts as he fearlessly walk forward

"I can't just let you fight in your condition, one blow to the stomach or anywhere near that area, and you will get seriously hurt." Emerald takes in a deep breath while she hesitantly walks forward, contemplating over what needs to be done, before letting out an exhale. "Okay, time to distract him."

"Are you going to use your semblance?" He asks

"That's right, act normally and do not do anything to stand out." The mint haired girl nods

Link clenches his jaw angrily, noticing the hobbled Cinder and Raven on the platform, with Vernal being the last to get on; Professor Lionheart attempts to go with them, but the fall maiden kicks him on the backside and off the platform. Link charges forward, with only a weakened Mercury, scared Emerald, and cowardly Leonard in his path

"Now!" Mercury gets into a defensive stance, but knows he cannot be reckless

Emerald stares daggers at Link, activating her semblance in seconds. The next thing visible to only the blonde swordsman alone is the duo in front of him multiplying, with five Mercury's forming like flashing images, alongside five Emerald's, and even two Leonardo's behind them

(It's only a vision… None of this… Is real!)

The platform lowers! Drawing an instant reaction from Link, who continues sprinting forward, not concerned by the hallucinations forced upon him. He successfully runs through the images of Mercury, Emerald, and Professor Lionheart standing 'in his way' and stands only a few feet away from the hole leading down into the vault

"AHH!"

Professor Lionheart, with an extended arm, fires three bursts of lightning in hopes of delaying and stopping Link from advancing any further. In response, Link comes to a complete stand still and raises his left arm. Rather than easily blocking with his right, the hand holding his shield, and with three swift slashes, disposes of Leonardo's attack without any trouble. However, during this short exchange, Emerald turns and fires her kusarigama and swiftly wraps the chains around Link's ankles, she pulls on her weapons, but manages to throw the blonde swordsman slightly off balance. This distraction is all Mercury needs to rush towards Link while he is occupied with the long ranged attack. He sprints forward, jumps, and slams Link on the side of the head with a lunging hook kick and shotgun blast! This piece of offense from the auraless Mercury, with assistance from his partner, is finally the move to catch Link cleanly and consecutively knock him down to the ground

"Get him!" Leonardo aims his shield at the downed opponent and charges a fireball on his weapon, until…

Bang! Bang!

Qrow fires off two shots from his longsword-scythe 'Harbinger' and they both strike the traitorous headmaster in the arm, preventing the lion faunus from attacking Link any further. He decides to focus on Professor Lionheart, as Oscar holds his own against Hazel, but with flashy eyes and movement only Professor Ozpin has the skill to perform

"Q-Qrow!" Leonardo stammers and treads carefully, as he nervously looks around. "P-Please understand, I-!"

"Save it!" Qrow steps forward and unloads a combination of vertical slashes at different angles, with the headmaster only able to block once with his shield before taking the rest of the strikes directly

Meanwhile, Link rises to his feet coldly and in calculated fashion. He pulls off the chains around his ankles with ease, but he is caught off guard when Emerald and Mercury charge at him from both sides, disregarding the plan given to them by their leader

"..." Link raises his shield to block another hook kick and shotgun blast from Mercury, then lifts his sword and swings it wildly up in the air and straight down when Emerald transforms her weapons into their sickles form to engage in direct melee attacks

"Grrr!" Mercury growls while his foot collides with the defensive metal weapon, and retaliates by continuing to throw kicks, utilizing the front of his foot as he throws consecutive high and low roundhouses kicks

Frustratingly for him, each kick is blocked when Link picks up on Mercury's kicking pattern. Aided when said kicks are thrown with significantly less speed. The former follows every single attack with his eyes, raising and lowering his shield when needed

(Enough already! I cannot stay here while those three women get the relic)

Link bends his legs, digs his heels in the wooden floor, and while blocking multiple attacks at the same time, spins rapidly only once, but the spinning slash that follows is enough of a threat to force Mercury to retreat, while Emerald is hit on the chest and shoulders!

"Ahh!" Emerald stumbles and retreats in pain. "Cinder told us to distract him but not engage? How else are we supposed to keep him up here?!"

(Now's my chance!)

Link turns his back to the enemies and makes a run for the hole, with plenty of assurance and bravery emitting out of the swordsman

"No!" Emerald's desperate scream is followed with another attempt to stop the foe in front of her with the ballistic chains firing from her weapons. "Mercury help!"

"...!" Link does not even turn, as the girl's attack does not concern him. He proves this by swatting down the chains with a blindly thrown backward slash

Clang!

The long chains and blades of Emerald hit the ground, her last ditch effort falls very short and now there is nothing in Link's way, only a long drop and a confrontation with two maiden's and Raven Branwen

"You won't get to her!" Mercury takes off after him, with Emerald following closely behind

Link stands on the ledge, with only a jump separating him from the women who escaped during the battle…

(Ngh!)

…Until he physically cannot advance forward, as something tugs on his heart and mind, preventing him from taking the leap. It is not Emerald, Mercury, Leonardo, or Hazel, but someone who has been out of the fight for a while. Link turns to the left and looks towards Ren, Nora, Ruby, Yang and lastly Weiss, who is back first on the ground. She is still unconscious, struggling for life… But with her usual white aura now suddenly engulfing her body! Caused by none other than Jaune, who has both hands over the wound on her abdomen, while his hands glow with a golden energy. Nothing appears different from before, except that Weiss does not look lifeless any more

(Are you okay, Weiss?) Link's eyes narrow as his breathing increases internally, while on the outside, he looks the same, angry and possessed. (What is going on?)

Link shuts his eyes and attempts to lift his left leg, the first step necessary in order to jump down and into the vault. But once again, his body restricts itself from advancing any further and his eyes remain locked onto Weiss. Despite his absolute desire to seek revenge on Cinder, it is Link's refusal to abandon Weiss that forces him to stay put

"GO AFTER THEM!" Jaune shouts without turning away

"Yes Link! Weiss is being cared for!" Ren calls out

"STOP THOSE WITCHES!" Nora stands and pumps a shaky fist

The encouragement pours in, with Ruby and Yang giving nods of approval as the five of them believe in Link, the two sisters even rise to their feet and get in fighting stances, ready to take on Emerald and Mercury once more

(…) Link shakes his head, grips the handle of his weapon, and fiercely swings behind him

This powerful slash forces Cinder's underlings to leap back, with Mercury balling up his fists and Emerald with narrowing eyes. Then… Both of them are immediately confused when the blonde does not take the chance to jump down, but instead he continues looking at Weiss… And only Weiss

(I cannot leave. I will not leave knowing you're not okay.) Link continues looking at the girl on the floor

On the outside, Link finally shows more emotion than appearing angry and moving like a possessed puppet, as his body shakes and he starts breathing rapidly, which turns into hyperventilating within seconds. Eventually, he shuts his eyes and opens his mouth

"If you two…" His voice comes out raspy, a mixture of the swordsman's normal voice with a dark, twisted voice never heard before. "Insist on protecting Cinder with your lives…" The young man in this pasty white complexion with twisted marks on his face unexpectedly grins. "You will regret it!"

The swordsman raises both weapons and gets back into the same stance from the beginning of his solo fight against Salem's crew, the stance inspired and taken from Pyrrha

"Looks like his time to shine isn't over." Yang mumbles nervously. "And do you see what I mean now? Did you hear his voice? It's not him."

"I did…" Ruby sighs. "But you're still wrong sis, Link is not gone. Don't you think he would have hurt us by now?"

"That's because we stayed out of his way." Yang, feeling her left hand viciously shaking, in slight fear of Link, grabs it with her right prosthetic hand to calm herself

"Regardless of whether Link is present or the 'demon', maybe now it is time that we help him and the rest of our group." Ren stands and firmly holds onto his weapons. "I can go help your Uncle and Professor Ozpin." He says while pointing at Qrow and Professor Ozpin, who are now being overwhelmed by their respective opponents; although the main cause is Hazel and not the cowardly Leonardo, who keeps his distance

"But what about Weiss?" Ruby turns back and sees Nora standing guard over Jaune while he tends to the fallen ex-heiress

"I got them covered, you can count on me." The orange haired girl smiles, only for it to fade. "We have another problem, though. Someone needs to go down into the vault if Link won't."

"You're right." Ruby narrows her eyes and thinks of the best possible person. "Uncle Qrow and Professor Ozpin are busy, Link will not go, I think that-!"

"I'll go." Yang firmly mumbles whilst nodding her head. "My mom is down there, it's time for a personal chat between mother and daughter."

"Are you sure?" Ren asks. "If you're scared, you do not have to-!"

"Stop." Yang shakes her head. "Of course I'm scared, but I need to do this."

"Understood." He nods

"Then you better get going. There's nothing stopping you right now." Ruby grins. "GO YANG!"

"Right!" Yang nods, runs forward, then blasts herself forward with shotgun blasts from her gauntlet 'Ember Celica'

Hazel turns, frowns, thrusts his left arm forward, and with his lightning dust enhancement, launches a charge of lightning, much bigger, faster, and stronger than the projectiles Leonardo's weapon can produce, directly at Yang! But the blonde huntress drops to her knees mid-sprint and slides underneath the attack

"NO! STOP!" Emerald turns away from Link and dives at her, only to be avoided with a quick sidestep, leaving the tanned girl to drop on the floor with a loud thud!

"Come here blondie!" Mercury frowns, also turns away from his opponent, and grabs onto her right arm. "We're not done yet!"

Yang's eyes turn red out of frustration from being touched, only for them to turn back to their normal lilac color when realizing she has an easy way out of this predicament. She smirks, detaches her prosthetic arm, and shrugs off Mercury, who loses his balance, and continues running forward

"Too easy!" Yang taunts the duo who framed her at Beacon, and now has a clear path, only her friend that she is wary of stands in her way, "Don't hurt me, don't hurt me, don't hurt me!" She shouts internally as she passes by Link, who gives a firm nod as she jumps down the hole leading into the vault. Emerald and Mercury give chase, but stop well short when they notice the blonde huntress jump down while Link is still in their way

"N-No!" Emerald's eyes are full of fear and panic, her confidence fading as Ren, Qrow, and Professor Ozpin fight Hazel valiantly, and Ruby is in a gunfire battle with Professor Lionheart

"Damn it!" Mercury turns around to witness the same scene, then he angrily glares at the yellow prosthetic in his left hand. He frowns and extends his arm upward, with full intention to destroy the piece of technology

"Let go of that!"

"HUH?!"

All time feels like it has slowed down, as Emerald and Mercury turn their heads in unison. However, instead of Link being a fair distance away, he is right behind both of them; specifically, the latter of the two. With Link's left shoulder in full rotation, a vertical sword slash crashing downwards follows suit, with full force behind the swing, and aimed perfectly for the base of Mercury's shoulder!

SLICE!

Thump!

Link's sword pierces through the wooden floor, and when his swing is complete… Mercury's entire left arm drops to the ground and the last of his aura around his shoulder does what it can to prevent blood from spilling out like a faucet releasing water, as only a small amount of blood pools out and spills on the floor. Emerald gasps in horror and her close friends drops to the floor in agonizing pain, a blood curdling scream emerges from Mercury's mouth as he rolls around, holding his left side in pain, where his shoulder once was

"AAAGGGHHH!" Mercury angrily flails and shuts his eyes, experiencing the most physical pain he's ever endured in his life

"M-Mercury!" Emerald falls to her knees and attempts to stop her friend from writhing around, with no success

"Are you… Going to…" Link mumbles coldly, although it is the same distorted, twisted, evil, and mixture of his voice alongside an unknown voice, "Give up now?" His voice radiates hesitance, as if to suggest he does not want to proceed

"SHUT UP!" Emerald lifts her head and stares at Link with fury in her eyes

FLASH

Link's sight swiftly changes, as if he just blinked. While the sight of Jaune healing Weiss with Nora watching over them, alongside Ruby, Ren, Qrow, and Professor Ozpin fighting Hazel and Professor Lionheart remains unchanged. It is Emerald and Mercury who are 'completely gone'. In their place is Pyrrha making her second appearance as an illusion created by the girl with mint green hair. The deceased teenager is on the floor, covered in blood, with a smile on her face and lifeless eyes

(Pyrrha…) Link's cold eyes soften and regain some life as he lets out a quiet sigh and shakes his head. (I wish you were here right now, but instead we are all here because of you.)

Closely behind, Emerald holds both of her weapons in their sickle form, with tight grips but shaky hands. She carefully gets closer to Link, until the girl is inches away from him. Next comes the direct attack, as she lifts her arms, steadies herself, then swings her arms downward!

Block!

Emerald's eyes widen in shock when Link turns, drops to one knee and blocks her attacks with his shield covering his head. Despite having made zero noise, is it using Pyrrha for another hallucination that sets her up to fail before she even started to sneak up on the swordsman

"You… Made… The wrong… Choice!"

Link narrows his eyes, stands up, easily resisting when Emerald attempts to push down against his shield, then charges forward and slams his shield against her, face first!

"OWWW!" Emerald wobbles back, stunned, and temporarily unsure of her surroundings

The girl blinks, but has no time to recover when Link is in her face within seconds. Emerald takes a step back and puts her weapons to good use, regardless of fear. First, she dashes from side to side, striking Link's midsection with horizontal slashes from both weapons. Although, with each quick side to side jump and sickle attacks, none seem to bother the opponent, but they do keep him guessing, with every attempt to block failing

"I'm going to make you pay for what you did to Merc!" Emerald promptly gets behind Link and nods to herself

She implements the chains in her weapons as part of her spinning attacks, the chain adds distance and gives her more space to attack. However, these attacks are slower and give Link plenty of time to see them coming. He easily dodges and weaves past them whilst closing the distance. Emerald growls, transforms her weapons into their rapid fire revolvers, and blasts multiple shots that would have put down multiple creatures of Grimm. Instead, she is facing an opponent faster, smarter, and tougher than Grimm, and all that is required is the raising of a shield, speed, and Link's undying will to never give up, as he pushes through the gunfire and reaches the girl in no time.

"HOW?!" Emerald screams out, then attempts the same sequence by jumping back to get distance

This time however, her opponent is ready, Link keeps up with Emerald, who attempts to hack, slash, shoot, back and side step her way into gaining distance. But all that comes of these failed attempts is both she and Link get away from the vault and now find themselves closer to the rest of the action. When he finally closes the distance, Link opts for a slow and methodical pace, unlike the rapid attacks used to deal with Cinder, Mercury, Vernal, and Raven. The swordsman begins with a diagonal slash aiming for the body, which Emerald blocks by spinning with her weapons to clash with the blade and slow down the attack! However, as the sword is fully across, Link fluently retracts the blade with precise speed to perform a backward slash, and this attack successfully lands, slicing at the girl's stomach and clipping right forearm in the process. Now with his sword at head level from the backward slash, Link finishes the three move combination with a direct sword jab! His left arm thrusts forward and the sword surges at a high angle, hitting Emerald's chest with ease. The girl whines in pain, but is then forced to immediately raise her sickles when Link grips his sword with both hands and winds up an attack, sword over his shoulder, holding the blade like a baseball bat. Determined, he steps forward and slams the two handed swing into the curved blades. No struggle ensues, the latter overpowers Emerald with his superior strength, drives his sword down to the ground, which throws the girl off balance, falling forward, and leaving her open for an weaponless attack. Link takes advantage and throws a rapid side kick that connects against Emerald's chin! The kick sends her flying, then crashing into the ground, rolling twice before coming to a stop back first

"UGH!" The girl coughs and blankly stares at the ceiling while sprawled out, she lets go of her weapons and quietly groans

Regrettably for the mint haired girl, Link is still not done, having warned her to give up and not fight anymore. But her insistence on using Pyrrha for another one of her sick hallucination semblance is the last straw. He puts his shield away, grips the handle of his blade with both hands, sprints forward, leaps in the air, impressively hurdling across the distance in between himself and the girl! After being in the air for a few seconds, Link drops rapidly, the young man's blade pointed down, and plunges the sword into Emerald's stomach when he lands!

"...!" Emerald's eyes widen, mouth agape, but no words emerge… Only loud gasps, her body trembles, and adrenaline courses through the girl's veins as she attempts to pull the blade out of her midsection

A short distance away, Ruby grits her teeth, brows furrowed, with the clear upper hand over the experienced Professor Lionheart, who tries to aim his shield at her, in an attempt to land an attack of his own for once. Nevertheless, the silver eyed girl blasts a shot from 'Crescent Rose' and strikes his shoulder. The headmaster's aura on his shoulder flickers before he makes a run for it, sprinting up two sets of stairs and out of the grand hall, pushing through the doors behind him leading to the lion faunus' office

"Piece of cake. We can get him later." Ruby nods to herself, looks to her left, grins while she watches Qrow, Professor Ozpin, and Ren take on Hazel, although the large man still has the advantage. "I should go help them, but maybe Link needs-!"

The young huntress abruptly cuts herself off when she turns to look directly in front of her, nearly dropping her sniper rifle-scythe at the horrific image of Link's sword stabbing Emerald's gut. The tanned girl grabs the blade with her bare hands, attempting to pull the weapon out, but Link maintains pressure and keeps it in place

"E-Em?" Mercury sits up, having briefly slipped into unconsciousness, he sees the state of his friend and rapidly attempts standing up, only to immediately struggle with the loss of his left arm. "E-EMERALD!"

"I told you… To give up!" Link shakes his head slowly, rises up to his feet after landing on one knee, and kicks the girl's weapons away from her

"L-Link?" Ruby blinks in confusion whilst watching her friend slowly becoming a monster and certainly acting like one

(This is for Coco and Yatsuhashi!)

Link shuts his eyes and roughly twists his sword to the right, inflicting more damage to the suffering girl

"AHHHHHH!" Emerald cries out and continues trying to pull out the sword, even though she has no luck and eventually cuts both hands open from gripping the enemy's blade

(This one is for Penny!)

Showing hesitation but ultimately choosing ruthlessness, he pushes the sword slightly further inside Emerald's stomach

"LINK! Stop!" Ruby shakes her head and runs towards her friend

"AHHH! P-PLEASE!" Emerald looks around in terror. "Merc! Cinder! Someone help!"

(And this one is for you… Amber!)

Link lifts his arms and removes the sword from Emerald's stomach, the lasting impact enough to make her pass out from the excruciating pain. The blonde swordsman slowly lifts the blade, and eyes the center of her chest, his next target being the young woman's heart, and unintentionally marks the spot to hit when raising the sword, as the blood that drips off the tip of his weapon, hits her chest

"Don't touch her!" Mercury's shout blares throughout the grand hall and he is now on his feet and near the two of them, having blasted himself forward with the guns in his boots

"...!" Link lowers his sword, turns, and stares into the eyes of the armless Mercury

"W-What?!"

In Mercury's sight, this is more than being glared or stared down by Link in this sadistic form. Something feels wrong with the grand hall, as to him, the floor and walls rumble, as if a massive force was about to burst through and wreak havoc. But in reality, it is all in his head, as the grand hall is completely unharmed and he is just afraid of the cold, evil eyes that look directly into his soul

"Nghhh!" The normally cocky, composed, and snarky young man comes to a complete stop, then stumbles back and falls to the ground backside first. He looks up and stares helplessly, unsure of what will come his way next

(Smart.) Link turns back to Emerald and raises his sword again, but now there is another person in his way, but unlike the villains, this is not someone he can or wants to intimidate

"Please don't do this!" Ruby bravely stands in front of the wounded girl, having full confidence that Link is still present mentally, despite doubts from her sister. "Emerald is only here because she THINKS she owes everything to Cinder. She isn't even doing this for Salem… I c-can't let her-!"

"...What are you doing?" Link narrows his eyes. "Go help someone else, I have this under control."

"Do you?" Ruby returns the same energy and shakes her head. "You had it under control a long time ago, now you're just going to kill senselessly."

"She used Pyrrha to get in my head." He speaks coldly, but the grips on his sword says another story as his hands shake

"That was very wrong and messed up, but this isn't you!" Ruby pleads. "This might be you now, but not who you really are. You don't kill for the sake of revenge, only if you are left with no choice, to protect those you love! You are a huntsman who protects people and-!"

"AND not a very good one. Ray, Amber, Penny, Pyrrha, and now Weiss… I'm a failure!" Link clenches his jaw. "My goal was to get revenge on Cinder… But something inside stopped me from jumping down… If Emerald and Mercury want to stop us from getting to her, they-!"

"The thing that stopped you-!" Ruby swiftly cuts him off before he can say anything darker. "...It was your heart being in the right place." She lifts her hands and tightly wraps them around her friend's forearms, she leans in and quietly whispers. "You're better than this."

"I should be, but I will choose not to!" Link lifts his arms as high as he can to break her grip

"Except you are better! And you're not a failure!" Ruby gasps, "WEISS IS OKAY!" She blurts out

"W-What?" Link's breathing and heartbeat go into overdrive upon hearing those words, he dreads turning to his right

"LOOK!" Ruby jumps whilst pointing desperately, with her praise and wise words failing, but using Weiss has temporarily stopped the blonde from doing something he may regret

Link closes his eyes, furrows his brows, turns his head to the right, and opens his golden eyes. And luckily, he is just in time to see Weiss sitting up and whispering to Jaune and Nora, both of whom smile happily. Weiss' subsequent action is to look ahead of her, which draws an instant gasp when spotting this new side of Link, something he has been suppressing, and a form only briefly seen in the eyes of Weiss through security camera footage during their days at Beacon Academy

(Weiss…) Link's breathing slows down, heart beating rapidly

"Link?" Weiss mumbles quietly, on the contrary, she breathes rapidly and her heart drops, but despite experiencing immense fear after almost dying, she flashes a weak smile at her friend, who is seconds away from murdering someone

Recognizing that Weiss is alive and well, Link calmly looks at Ruby again, a familiar face who is on the brink of tears. Next, his eyes drop to the unconscious Emerald, followed by a quick glare over his shoulder to Mercury, then a glance at the open doors upstairs leading to Professor Lionheart's office. Finally, his sight shifts over to Hazel, who is overpowering Qrow, Professor Ozpin, and Ren with his brute strength. The blonde huntsman sighs, a different emotion being shown for the first time since this new side emerges, as before all that was on his face was an angry or deadpan expression. Link shuts his eyes, focuses, and the first change is the triforce on the back of his left hand glows brightly. He opens his eyes and immediately the pasty, bright white color on his body starts to fade away, from bottom to top; starting at his feet, up his legs, torso, fingers, arms, neck, ending with the young man's face. The lines on his back, chest, neck, ears, and cheeks slowly retract back into his eyes. Link's golden eyes shine brightly one last time before returning to their dark blue color. Subsequently, he returns to his mortal self, after fighting seven foes in the form of what many would call a monster

"Welcome back, Link." Ruby smiles, grabs the blonde by his arms, drags him away from Emerald's body, and pulls him into a hug. "I knew you were here, for the most part. Perhaps that evil voice took over and made you go a step too far but you prevailed!"

Knowing he cannot lie to her after everyone promised to be more open and not keep secrets anymore, Link does not hug Ruby in return, but sighs in disappointment

"I will not lie to you and I'm sorry Ruby… But I was never gone." Link shakes his head. "Nothing or nobody took over, either. All of my actions were intentional."

"N-No… That can't be true." Ruby's expressions turns to one of sadness and shock

After a quiet gasp, she lets go of the hug and takes a step back. Nothing is improved when Link attempts to reach forward and touch her shoulder, to let her know that she is safe. Ruby turns this down when she recoils and takes additional backward steps. Nearby, Mercury is desperately pulling Emerald away from the Beacon students with his single arm, slowly but steadily getting her out of further harm's way

"Oh, I see." Link sighs, nods solemnly at his friend, then slides his sword back in its scabbard, and promptly runs east, knowing exactly where to go next

"Link!" Nora squeals with excitement. "T-That… Was amazing! A little dark and twisted at times, but you kicked butt!"

"You really have gotten so much stronger." Jaune smiles. "It was fascinating to witness."

"Thank you." Link mumbles and kneels down on Weiss' right side, with tears built up in his eyes. "Weiss! I'm so-!"

"Don't even!" Weiss shakes her head. "Do not say sorry, this was not your fault, Link. I told and then demanded that you let me fight the spring maiden alone, that was my own fault."

"I don't care about assigning blame, Weiss. I'm happy that you're alive." Link drops his head on her shoulder as the tears drops to the ground

"M-Me too." Weiss exhales before hesitantly wrapping her right arm around him and giving the blonde a gentle hug

The two surrounding members of team RNJR smile at this sweet but semi-awkward moment. Meanwhile, Hazel successfully punches Qrow and sends him crashing against Professor Ozpin! While his back is turned, Ren sprints forward, firing machine gun rounds from his signature weapons 'StormFlower'. The gunfire only aggravates the tall man, who turns and launches a charge of lightning at Ren! But he dives forward, rolls through to dodge the attack, and gets behind the large man once more. Unfortunately, the enemy quickly turns, giving Ren no time to attack, and punches the former directly against the chest, which also sends him flying back into the wall. Hazel then launches another lightning charge from his lightning dust arm, which soars rapidly and strikes Ren, electrocuting him!

"AHHHH!" Ren screams out in pain as he sways forward, about to topple over in defeat

But Hazel does not stop there, he sprints and stops only a foot away from Ren. The tall man winds up his fist, and a massive right hand, paired with his lightning enhancement, strikes the student in the chest yet again in the form of an uppercut! The attack electrocutes Ren even further, flickering his entire aura, then shattering it within seconds! Without his natural forcefield, Ren experiences the pain like never before, which garners horrifying screams from the normally quiet student

"REN!" Nora gasps with tears flowing down her cheeks

"GO!" Jaune shouts. "Link can guard us now!"

"OKAY!"

Nora leaps forward, with her massive steel hammer 'Magnhild' ready to strike. Hazel nonchalantly turns to her and launches three charges of lightning at the girl, who gladly takes the attacks head first, activating her semblance 'High Voltage'. She lands in front of the tall man, who now turns his full attention to her. Hazel runs, gets closer, and prompts Nora to strike! In spite of the fact that she is right handed, Nora swings to the left, but has more than enough natural strength, combined with boosted power to slam her weapon right into Hazel's ribs, which launches him towards the entrance of the grand hall, consequently through the wall and outside onto Haven Academy's courtyard! Directly outside, another battle is taking place between nothing but faunus. The White Fang has met resistance in the form of a militia led by an unknown leader. Alongside the militia, there are multiple Mistral airships roaming the skies, closing in on Haven Academy! The ships shine a spotlight on every White Fang member, while an amplified voice is heard seconds later

"WHITE FANG! This is the Mistral Police Force! Lower your weapons and surrender peacefully, immediately!"

…

Back Inside Haven Academy's Grand Hall

"Whoa!" Link turns his head and gasps in admiration when the giant man crashes through the wall

"Don't say whoa like you didn't just take on two maidens, Yang's mom, a headmaster, Mercury, and Emerald." Jaune snickers

"You make it sound more impressive than it actually was." Link grins

"If you say so." Jaune playfully rolls his eyes, then removes his hands from the girls' wound. "How are you feeling, Weiss?"

"Hm…" Weiss opens her left palm, summoning a small glyph in her hand. "Much better. Thank you, Jaune."

"Of course. I should probably go join the fight now. That big guy is likely not down for the count just yet." Jaune nods. "Link, can you take care of Weiss?"

"..." Link says nothing, but does lift his head to silently nod

"Good." Jaune stands up and runs toward the action, but rather than join the fight, he notices Ren is still on the ground, making the JNPR leader change course. "I better put my healing to use first!"

"Rest easy, Weiss." Link stands, retrieves his sword, then his shield, and firmly stands guard in front of her

"Not a chance." Weiss grins as she rises to her feet as well. "You all got your chances to shine, now it's my turn. But Link…"

"Yes?" He asks

"Back me up, okay?"

"Absolutely." Link nods

The duo of Weiss and Link walks towards the middle of the grand hall. The ex-heiress nods to signal her friend, acting as a bodyguard to hang back, and he complies without protest. Weiss elegantly twirls, blue and white light coming from the tip of her rapier, 'Myrtenaster'. She drops to one knee and stabs her rapier into the pristine wooden floor that has seen better days. It does not take long for an enormous summoning glyph to appear under her feet, but this time, a new creature emerges. The creature is a familiar foe to Weiss, a Queen Lancer to be exact. She stands valiantly as her summoning fires off its stinger!

"When and where did you learn to summon that?" Link's jaw drops. "You're amazing."

"You haven't been the only one getting strong, you dolt." Weiss blushes, turning her head away from the blonde's sight

Outside, Hazel angrily watches the ongoing battle between Adam's small White Fang troops against a giant militia, now with an apparent leader, Blake Belladonna and her parents, Ghira and Kali. Hazel reaches into the pouch on his right leg, grabs red dust crystals, and stabs his arms to the best of his ability. The giant fully intends on helping the outnumbered White Fang… Until he is impaled through his back and out of his stomach by the Queen Lancer's stinger! Hazel is then pulled back inside the building, the stinger lets go of the tall man, who crashes back first against the floor. In mere seconds, he sits up to see Weiss is responsible for this, then angrily roars!

"Cinder… You can't even kill a weak girl?!" Hazel furiously stands up, the tall man's anger boils over when he realizes that he is the only one fighting, as Leonardo ran away like a coward, Emerald is unconscious, and Mercury is recovering but also out of the fight

"Quit already!" Qrow calls out. "You're surrounded and the Mistral police are here too!"

"GRAHHHH!" Hazel stomps on the ground, ready to fight once again

Ruby fires multiple sniper rounds from crescent rose at the tall man! Nora turns her hammer into its grenade launcher state and fires away with explosive rounds! The Queen Lancer shoots ice crystal projectiles! Link stands in front of Weiss protectively whilst Qrow and Professor Ozpin close the distance! Qrow in his crow form while Professor Ozpin simply charges forward normally. But every attempt is shut down when Hazel fires multiple fireballs at the Queen Lancer and the rest of his enemies. The fireballs melt the ice, destroying the grenades, melting the bullets, and forcing both Qrow and Ozpin to retreat. On the sideline, away from the battle, Jaune attempts to heal Ren with his newly discovered semblance, 'Aura Amp', but frowns when nothing changes with his teammate's condition, even though his injuries do not seem as grave as Weiss'

"How is this big guy still standing?" Nora grumbles, "He lost his hand, took a lot of damage, and just got stabbed by Weiss' cool summoning!" She turns to her former leader. "How's Ren?"

No response…

"J-Jaune?" Nora's voice cracks

"I-I-I don't know." Jaune mumbles

"N-no…" Nora clenches her jaw and continues firing off grenade shots, unable to bear any more bad news about her childhood friend

Meanwhile, Ruby switches her position to stand nearby Weiss and Link, while keeping her distance from the blonde. Qrow takes cover behind a wooden pillar, using his bird form to get behind cover faster than his human form, although he is still struck by a fireball when switching forms

"He's sheer willpower." Qrow mumbles. "It's getting really annoying…"

"It may be, but-!" Professor Ozpin's sentence comes to a halt as he dodges a fireball with a sideways roll, but cannot dodge a second, lifts his forearms in the shape of an X, takes the hit, and crashes against the wall

"Oz!" Qrow frowns

"I-I'm fine!" Ozpin quickly springs to his feet when another fireball is fired his way, "We just need to-!" He dodges it perfectly with a leap, getting behind a wooden pillar himself for additional cover. "...Get him to his limit!"

"Does he even have one, Oz?"

"Yes." Professor Ozpin nods

Hazel sprints forward, aiming his sights on Weiss, regardless of Link's protective stance. The blonde narrows his eyes and readies himself for another round of combat with the tall man, but Hazel outsmarts them as he abruptly turns, and with this small distraction, combines a single attack with his fire and lightning enhancements, fires it from his right fist, and directly hits the Queen Lancer, causing it to dissipate into smithereens

"Aw…" Weiss' eyes widen in sadness. "I just summoned that too."

"It's okay, you kept his destruction in here, where we can handle him!" Link nods

In spite of their weakened states, Mercury drags himself and a now groggy, but conscious Emerald to the middle of the grand hall, joining Hazel to continue stalling while Cinder recovers the relic

"Can you two even stand?" Hazel coldly speaks

"Of course." Mercury glares at the tall individual while having the tanned girl's arm around his head to help support her. "Just a little banged up, but we are still here."

"Like Merc said…" Emerald slowly removes her arm away from her friend and stands on shaky legs. "Somewhat hurt, but we are going to keep fighting. Are you-!"

Before she can finish, Blake suddenly jumps through the white and blue shards of energy that were once the Queen Lance, and kicks Hazel in the head, sending him back first to the ground before landing in between Weiss, Link, and Ruby, the three of them gasp in shock at the cat faunus' sudden return

(I knew she would come back.) Link exhales in relief

"Blake!" Ruby smiles

"Hey!" Blake nods at her while she turns to Weiss, then spots the blood on her outfit. "Are you okay?!"

"Y-Yeah!" Weiss stutters. "Just a scratch."

"Right." Blake glances at Link, a smile appears on her face when the cat faunus notices how the huntsman is ready to protect Weiss

"Blake." Link nods at the cat faunus. "It's been a long time."

"Yes it has." Blake sighs. "How have you been?"

"Better. Making progress one day at a time." Link shuts his eyes. "Trying to be better than I was yesterday."

"That's… Deep. And I can relate." Blake mumbles before turning to her former leader. "Ruby, do you guys have a plan?"

"Nope, we have just been fighting." Ruby whispers. "We should regroup completely, I don't like how our group is split up."

"Okay! Let's move then!"

Blake turns to her left, witnessing Professor Ozpin keeping himself upright with assistance from his cane, near Qrow, who is exhausted after having taken most of Hazel's offense to protect Professor Ozpin, but more importantly, Oscar. Then there's Nora, who stands guard in front of Jaune, who is still trying to heal Ren, not worried about his aura depleting in the slightest. She leads the way, Ruby follows closely behind, then Weiss, and lastly Link, who insists on watching the backs of the three girls. The four of them slide, skid, and shuffle respectively in front of the rest of their allies.

"Just give up, already! Nobody has to die!" Ruby shakes her head, aiming her weapon in its sniper form at Hazel, who is missing his left arm. Mercury is also missing a left arm, falls to one knee, and Emerald is still on shaky legs, but standing straight, holding her sickles tightly

"W-We're outnumbered and weaker… What the hell do we do now?!" Mercury growls and slams his right fist against the ground. "Cinder sure is taking her time! How hard can it be to deal with an inexperienced maiden, a bird, and blondie?!"

"No! We won't give up! This isn't over!" Emerald lowers her sickles, taking advantage of their enemy's sparing them as long as they do not engage, "Cinder will come back, she will have the Relic, and she will stop all of you!" She looks towards the vault in admiration. "She won't let us down."

Creaaaaak!

The platform leading down the vault is heard slowly rising. Everyone stares in anticipation as anybody could emerge with the relic. A full head of flowing blonde hair emerges, and Yang comes back up on the platform, with the relic of 'Knowledge' in hand, she confidently leans against the terrace when it reaches the top.

"Yang…" Ruby smiles

"...!" Blake's eyes widen when Yang immediately spots and stares at the cat faunus, making her shamefully turn away

"We did it." Weiss grins

"Yes, we did." Link nods

"Heh, good job, kiddo." Qrow mumbles

Hazel seethes as he balls up his right hand and applies all the pressure he can muster. Mercury's jaw drops in disbelief, and Emerald shakes her head in denial as tears begin to stream down her cheeks

"Whoa! Hey Link." Yang chuckles. "I was almost getting used to seeing you all pasty white, somewhat glowy, and magical."

"Please don't, ever. Forget that you saw anything." Link sighs in shame

The two blondes exchange nods, Yang's eyes then meet Blake again, who smiles back this time, rather than shamefully look away. Although, there is shame and regret in her eyes. Professor Ozpin, still in control of Oscar, smiles and twirls his cane in approval. Qrow rises to his feet and smirks. Jaune weakly smiles, but his mood is somber with the uncertainty around Ren, with Nora in front of them, her head lowered, emotions hidden. Weiss and Ruby exchange comforting glances, and Link keeps his eyes on the weakened enemies in front of them. Emerald dramatically falls to her knees, lets go of her weapons, drops her head, and begins to inconsolably cry. Mercury and Hazel slowly back away, realizing the fight will not be won anymore

"Are you guys ready to give up now?!" Nora reveals her emotions, fury, as she steps forward, standing alongside the team RWBY trio and Link, with tears flowing down her face too

"N-No! But…" Mercury hesitates, he turns to Emerald and looks at her pleadingly, "Em…" He whispers. "Get up, we need to go."

"You're not going anywhere!" Weiss frowns

"She's right, you are surrounded." Ruby aims her sniper at the threesome

"Surrender." Link mumbles

"I-It can't be…" Emerald shakes her head and cries harder

"Emerald!" Mercury raises his voice

"Let's go!" Hazel growls

Emerald sits up and looks around as her breathing gets frantic and rapid. Her eyes and mind race as Mercury's familiar face does not calm her in the slightest. The tanned girl raises her hands up to her temples, holds her head as her eyes widen completely, and she opens her mouth to scream…

"AHHHHHHH!"

…Then instantly activates her semblance once more! The grand hall suddenly loses all of its neat, elegant color. Black smoke rises from the ground and in the exact spot where Emerald, Mercury, and Hazel stand. The smoke engulfs the three villains, with them disappearing seconds later; from the smoke, a giant illusion of Salem crawls out of the ground. The mythical woman's pale skin, dark purple lines streaking across her body, blood red eyes, and jet black pupils are visible to everyone inside the room, her arms are bent, deformed, and the woman towers above everyone in the room, standing as tall as the entire grand hall, from the floor to the ceiling.

(W-What the-!) Link's eyes shoot open, the sight of the giant monster that forms in front of them sending chills down his spine. (No!)

But despite his initial fear, the swordsman steps forward, takes a wide stance, and stands in front of Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Nora, and everyone else behind them. 'Salem' sadistically twirls, then lets out an ear piercing scream as she swoops down and charges at everyone with extended arms. The grand hall goes completely pitch black as the darkness feels as if it consumes the group of students, huntsman, and the former Beacon headmaster… Until everything returns to normal like nothing happened. Everyone looks horrified and either looks to one another or stares blankly at the floor, with the exception of Professor Ozpin. When the heroes process that what they just witnessed was only an illusion, Emerald, Mercury and Hazel, are gone, having used the impromptu semblance to their advantage

"T-They're gone." Link whispers. (Not only that, Cinder, Vernal, and Raven did not come up. What happened?)

"Y-Yeah." Ruby blinks whilst her hands shake in fear. "Wow…" Then, she notices Link willingly being on the front lines, regardless of whether it was an illusion or not. "Look at him, still ready to defend us."

"What… What was that?!" Blake shouts

"I d-don't know." Weiss tightly grips her rapier and slowly shakes her head

"That was an illusion." Professor Ozpin struggles to speak as Oscar's body begins to falter, soon falling to one knee. "But an accurate one. That was Salem. That is who we are up against."

"Hm…" Link narrows his eyes, showing the least amount of fear. "At least we have an idea now, since we keep hearing the name Salem but do not know a lot about her."

"There is no way he is so calm." Qrow glares at the blonde swordsman, but before any questioning or further words can be spoken, Professor Ozpin falls to both knees, prompting the older huntsman to tend to him. "Easy, Oz."

"Jaune, give me some good news!" Nora jogs to her teammates, but Ren is still unconscious, and Jaune is too shell-shocked from witnessing a massive Salem for the words to register. "JAUNE!"

"YES?!" Jaune is jolted back to reality, rapidly shaking his head. "O-Oh right." He sighs. "I'm sorry, Nora."

"Is he-!" Nora gasps

"NO!" Jaune waves his hands in front of her. "He's just not responsive, my healing didn't do anything but he isn't gone either. Maybe taking him to a Mistral hospital will help."

"Okay…" Nora also sighs and drops to her knees in front of her surviving teammates, she lowers her head and begins whispering, though only Jaune can hear her

Nearby, team RWBY and Link are still processing what they just witnessed. Strangely, Weiss and Ruby keep their distance from the blonde in green, with only Blake standing close to him, unaware of what previously took place before her reappearance

"How are we supposed to defeat that?" Blake mumbles

"I am not sure." Link shakes his head. "Together we have a chance."

"That's a start." Weiss nervously replies. "An actual plan would be great, but considering the fight we were just in, that can wait."

"Ugh! Yes please." Ruby sighs. "I have had enough fighting for one day."

"You and me both." Yang chuckles as she walks down the stairs

Suddenly, her nearing presence unexpectedly makes Blake run off

"O-Oh." Yang sighs

"Should we follow her?" Link turns back to ask the threesome of girls

"Hmm? Is that wise?" Weiss raises an eyebrow

"It wouldn't hurt." Ruby nods. "Come on!"

"Okay!" Yang grins

Ruby speeds forward, with Weiss, Yang, and Link trailing behind! Fortunately for the students, their run quickly comes to a halt, and to their relief, the four of them realize Blake running away is because of her parents, who are now inside the grand hall. Alongside Sun Wukong, another familiar face. The Belladonna family embrace and share a deep hug together, while Sun happily looks on

"Well?" Blake asks. "Is the attack on Haven over?"

"Yes dear." Kali, an older but near identical version of Blake, proudly smiles. "The police have rounded up the remaining White Fang members, it is over. Haven is safe."

"You excluded the unfortunate news." Ghira mumbles as he lowers his head. "Unfortunately, it appears that Adam escaped. There is no doubt that he is still in the area, but looking for him could be dang-!"

"That's okay."

A young woman enters the grand hall. Her skin is light, with darker spots on her shoulders, knees, and face, giving away that she is a chameleon faunus. She has brown hair, tied in a ponytail and light gray eyes. The woman sports off black boots, paired with a black, and gray sleeveless, skin tight suit that cuts off at her thighs, a suit meant for combat and stealth missions

"How is that okay, Ilia?" Sun asks

"Because." Ilia playfully rolls her eyes. "He was the only one to escape tonight. And like mister Belladonna said, he couldn't have gotten too far. Those in the White Fang will not-!"

"He is here?" Link's eyes widen as his voice overpowers the chameleon faunus

"And who might you be?" Ghira narrows his eyes

"He's another friend from Beacon, dad." Blake mumbles

"I didn't realize my little girl was so popular." Kali giggles

"Mom!" Blake snaps with a hush tone. "Stop embar-!"

"Where did he go?" Link steps forward, getting in front of Ruby, Weiss, and Yang

"Huh?" Ilia turns her head in confusion. "He just ran off. We do not exactly know where."

"..." Link turns momentarily and looks at the blonde currently missing her right arm, then smiles at her

"Link no…" Yang opens her mouth in shock, aware of his intentions. "Don't even think about it!"

"What's going on?" Weiss nudges her teammate with her elbow

"I think…" Yang sighs and lowers her voice. "He wants to go after-!"

"...!" Link nods at her before taking off, fully intending on searching the area and finding the evil, twisted, and cold blooded White Fang leader

"Hey! What are you doing?!" Sun shakes his head, drops down and attempts to trip him with a leg sweep

But this falls short when Link avoids the quick strike with a simple hop over the leader of SSSN!

"SOMEONE STOP HIM." Blake shouts and gives chase herself

Ilia stands in his way next, but does not attack comfortably like Sun did. In contrast, this makes it easy for the blonde to run around her. The change of direction however, is enough for Blake to catch up and trail right behind him! She attempts to grab him by the collar, but Link is too fast and now the destroyed entrance is in his sights

CRACKLE! SNAP!

An ice wall rapidly forms in front of the grand hall entrance, straight out of the wooden floor. One layer of ice emerges first, followed by a second layer that rises higher and completely blocks the path. Link sighs, knowing only one person could have done and with the exact expertise required. He turns around and sees Weiss, holding her rapier and posing elegantly with her right leg crossed over her left

"What do you think you're doing?!" Blake's eyes are widened, in a panic, as she grabs the swordsman by the collar and angrily shakes him

"I…" Link's eyes shuffle as he feels all the stares going in his direction. "I can beat him."

"That doesn't matter! You could have been killed!" The cat faunus shouts. "Adam is dangerous, especially now that he is desperate. We cannot afford to chase and then get into one on one fights with him!"

"Sorry." Link mumbles

"Never do that again!" Blake shakes her head

"How come he doesn't get slapped?" Sun chuckles. "I've gotten a good smack for less."

"Now is not the time for jokes, mister Wukong." Ghira frowns

"I wanted to get Adam, once and for all." Link turns away and narrows his eyes, "He has hurt so many people, ruined the reputations of every faunus, terrorized you, he's the reason Yang lost her arm, and-!" He pauses, choosing not to speak about himself

"Revenge? Is that what this is about?" Kali interjects. "Young man, you cannot pursue revenge. Nobody benefits from such an action."

"She's right." Yang steps forward, the relic still in her hand. "Adam will get what's coming to him. Whether it is from you, me, or anybody else, his day will come. Going after him gives him leverage."

"Exactly." Ilia nods. "Right now he doesn't have any and…"

Ilia continues speaking, attempting to talk Link down. But her sentence fades away in the middle of it, then Ghira speaks, followed by Sun, Ruby, and it ends with another emotional plea from Blake. In spite of these heartfelt attempts, all of their words go unheard as Link shuts his eyes, inhales, then exhales in frustration. The voices do not enter Link's ears or register in his head after Yang speaks. Instead, all Link hears is said voices jumbled together, not making sense, and some incoherent shouting. This makes him frown, appearing visibly more frustrated and dejected

(Adam, Mercury, Emerald, and Hazel all escaped. There's no telling what happened to Cinder, Raven, or Vernal either. Was this battle pointless or-!)

Grab!

Before Link can continue festering internally with his negative thoughts, he is grabbed by the shoulders and pulled into a massive hug. Expecting it to be Blake, who was previously holding him by the collar, Link opens his eyes and feels warm. He loosens up, thanks in part to the warm hug by ironically, none other than the ice queen herself, Weiss

"Everyone is talking to you." She lifts her head to whisper in his ears. "Don't be rude and answer them."

"I…" Link sighs and wraps both arms around her lower back, "O-Okay. Thank you Weiss." He leans into the hug gently and looks towards Blake, her parents, Ilia, Sun, Ruby, and Yang. "My apologies, everybody. Stopping Adam is very personal to me and I almost lost my head when finding out that he was very close."

"Apology accepted, young man." Ghira begins. "One look at you and your demeanor says it all. I could tell you really wanted to do this. Adam is not worth pursuing, but you want to get him for my daughter. That earns my immediate respect."

"Thank you, sir." Link nods

Sun and Ilia nod in approval, Kali smiles brightly, Blake sighs in relief, Ruby and Yang look to each other and nod before the sisters turn around and walk back to their uncle

"Weiss…" Link mumbles. "I-!"

"Shhh, we can talk when we are out of this place, okay?" Weiss meets his eyes but smiles weakly

"Are you okay?" He asks

"I don't know, but for now, let's enjoy this victory." Weiss releases her grip on the hug and nods her head towards her teammates, "Besides…" She whispers. "I think Blake needs a moment with her family."

"Yes." Link mumbles. "What about that ice?"

"That can stay, in case you change your mind and try pursuing a dangerous enemy on your own again." She rolls her eyes

Weiss and Link exchange awkward smiles, tension lingering, but regardless of their unease, they walk together, following behind Ruby and Yang. Soon, the former one person team and ex-heiress watch carefully as the blonde huntress hands over the Relic to Qrow, who is back up to his feet

"Hey kiddo." Qrow mumbles. "Not to poke and prod you but… What happened down there?"

"I didn't have to do any fighting. When I got down there, Cinder was gone, and Vernal was dead."

(Whoa, Cinder is dead?) Link lets out a quiet gasp, but feels satisfied internally. (If I had to guess, Cinder turned on Raven and Vernal, but could not win. Greed was her downfall.)

"And your mom?" Qrow asks

"She…" Yang hesitates. "Was gone. Not dead, but gone"

"Interesting." The older relative sighs, "There's no telling who is gonna be the new spring maiden now, that Vernal girl probably had Cinder in her head as her last thought. But with her also being dead-!" He stops himself. "We can figure all of that out later. I'm glad you're still here, firecracker. Everyone else is too, even if some are a bit occupied or fatigued."

"Yeah, thanks uncle Qrow." Yang smiles

"Ughhh!" Ruby groans and stumbles backward, the silver eyed huntress' knees buckle and she completely falls over. "W-Whoa!"

"I got you!" Link replies and lunges forward to catch her, but so does Weiss and she even beats him to the punch

"Me too." Weiss nods

"Nice catch." He chuckles

"Thank you." She cordially nods before turning to her leader. "Are you okay?"

"Me? You almost died." Ruby giggles

"You!" Weiss narrows her eyes. "How dare you?!"

"She's not wrong." Yang walks over and drops down to sit next to Ruby for support. "You had everyone scared Weiss. You even made someone dig deep and channel some power they would rather avoid."

"Yang…" Link sighs and shakes his head. "You're not going to let that go anytime soon, are you?"

"Nope!" She sticks her tongue out and winks at the blonde in the green. "You kicked butt and you should be proud of how you took on... Everyone!"

"That means a lot, thanks." Link grins

Ruby and Weiss remain silent, but their lack of words does not affect Link, as he turns and spots Blake approaching the four of them once more, presumably after finishing her talk with Ilia, Sun, and her parents. Seeing the cat faunus walking their way, Link drifts to the right, and heads towards Nora, Jaune, and Ren, allowing Blake to catch up with her teammates in private

"Jaune, Nora." Link mumbles. "How is he-!"

Before he can finish asking about Ren's condition, Nora cuts him off with a surprise embrace, a one armed hug to be exact. However, it is not a happy one, as the orange haired girl is still in tears, saddened by the lack of progress made by her childhood friend

"Nora?" Link gasps

"That's a thank you for helping us out with that big guy, and for being one of the main reasons we won today." Nora whispers. "R-Ren… Isn't any better."

"I'm sorry." Link sighs, hugs her in return, and shakes his head in the process

"Be honest, is he going to make it?" Nora pulls back and stares into his dark blue eyes

"He will get through this." Link nods, "Ren is strong, this will not be the end of his journey." He smiles to assure the crying girl, but deep down even he is skeptical. (I hope I am correct.)

"Thanks. I needed to hear that." Nora sighs and immediately reaches behind her back. "Here, I believe all of this belongs to you."

She reveals multiple items behind her back, in her right hand is Link's brown pouch of projectiles, with everything inside, all of his smoke bombs, knives, the black hawks patch, even the sentimental pink pendant. In her left hand, is Pyrrha's circlet and Ray's canteen, that is unfortunately now damaged

"When did you get all of this?" Link smiles in relief, takes the special items out of the girl's hands, but cannot contain himself at the sight of the dented canteen, which turns on the waterworks as tears flow down his cheeks

"Pfft." Nora weakly smiles, "When you dramatically almost went after someone a few minutes ago." She leans forward and gently punches the blonde against his chest. "And I do have something else to say, to you and you only."

"If it's what I think it is…" Link shakes his head. "You do not have to-!"

"SHHH!" Nora pushes through her sadness and musters up a bigger smile. "I'm sorry for thinking so negatively of you after everything that happened at Beacon. I know you blame Jaune but, I'm not innocent either. None of what happened was your fault, I mayyy have been quick to come to a conclusion that portrayed you negatively. I hope you can forgive me someday because you're a good friend to all of us, despite how much some of us have wronged you."

"You are more than forgiven." Link wipes his tears away and returns a smile, regardless of the somber mood. "I'm glad you don't see me as evil anymore. I am not perfect, but all I want is for everyone I love to thrive and be happy."

"I know. That's what makes you who you are, Link." Nora nods and steps aside, making way for an interaction between the two swordsmen

"Jaune." Link approaches the tactician of team RNJR, who just recently stops attempting to heal their unconscious friend

"Yes Link?" Jaune presses both palms against the ground and pushes off the wooden floor to help himself stand quicker. "Are you hurt?"

"No, but thank you for showing concern." Link mumbles. "And…"

To the surprise of Jaune and Nora, their mouths widen in shock when Link extends his hand and offers it to the person who's handshake he rejected the day prior

"W-What? I don't understand." Jaune raises an eyebrow

"Thank you, for saving Weiss. She means a lot to me-!" He stops himself and blushes. "ALL of you mean a lot to me. I'm sorry for rejecting your hand, maybe I still have some negative feelings, but I will show respect and be thankful to you, for doing something I could not have."

"It's my pleasure." Jaune smiles warmly and happily shakes his hand. "I'm not even sure how it happened, I was trying to stop her from bleeding out. Next thing I know-!"

"That is quite the semblance." Link mumbles, slowly letting go of his hand. "You're catching up with everyone and now you can brag that you unlocked your semblance before me. That leaves Oscar and I as the only ones without one."

"As if you need a semblance, especially today." Jaune cordially rolls his eyes, amused by the praise, while he follows suit and releases the grip on his hand. "Thank you, Link."

"Of course."

Link individually nods at Jaune and Nora, then glances at Ren one more time before walking away from the three of them. The blonde young man in green marches forward whilst attaching the pouch, Pyrrha's circlet, and Ray's canteen to his belt, where they rightfully belong. Soon, he finds himself standing in the middle of the grand hall. He inhales, shuts his eyes, then exhales, opens his eyes and looks around him: Ghira and Kali Belladonna watch in amusement as Ilia and Sun attempt to break the ice wall covering the entrance to the building. Team RWBY are in the middle of a silent group hug, with tears visible in the eyes of Blake and Ruby. Nora is on her knees, planting multiple quick kisses on Ren's forehead, while Jaune watches with a weak smile on his face. Lastly, Qrow holds the relic in his hand and Oscar is passed out directly next to him, due to Professor Ozpin's exertion of the farmhand's aura. Following his observation of everyone, Link turns his head to the ground, looking at himself next. The clothes of the former one person team from Beacon are torn up and partially shredded from the fight. His boots and gauntlets appear beaten up and rough from the countless movement and blocking that took place during each battle he was in. Unexpectedly, Link experiences aching and tingles of pain slowly coursing through his body, making him realize that he is not completely immune when consuming all of those attacks from the enemy. Nevertheless, the cold, quiet, and angry young man takes another deep breath. Seconds later, he releases the air in his lungs, and feels a massive sense of relief. First, at having won the battle of Haven, and secondly but more importantly, causing significant damage to Salem's crew and recovering the Relic of Knowledge

---

(Author's Note: Hey everybody! Sorry for the long time it has taken to update, no excuses, I am simply not on the writing grind like before. But I am still very much still alive and updating chapters or posting new ones. With that being said, chapters 29 and 30 have been updated if you'd like to give those another read :) And of course, I hope you have all enjoyed this chapter because I enjoyed writing it. Until next time, I hope you awesome readers have a wonderful day!)